Hollywood has a tendency to take a proven theme and push it to the outermost extremes. The movie “40 Days and 40 Nights” is like “American Pie” on Viagra (which, incidentally, plays a part in one of the film?s few funny scenes). The movie deals with a young Web page designer, Matt (Josh Hartnett), who is so obsessed with erasing the memories of his ex-girlfriend that he humps everything in sight.

He decides the solution to his dilemma is to go without sex for 40 days and nights, during Lent. Naturally, he immediately meets his true love, Erica (Shannyn Sossaman) after making this vow. The two fall for each other in the classic dialogue-free, music-driven scene. Matt must deal not only with his inability to act on his feelings for Erica, but also with pressure from his nymphomaniacal roommate Ryan (Paulo Costanzo).

Ryan, with the aid of Matt?s coworkers, creates a betting pool to see how long Matt will last. This generates a frenzy at work, as everyone tries to get him to break his commitment. Erica eventually learns of his situation, and Matt spends the rest of the movie digging himself out of this hole.

The movie never really rises to the occasion; most of the jokes are variations of old penis jokes, and the movie feels as if it could have been fashioned in a high school locker room. The funniest scene is when Matt deals with his “pitched tent.” Sadly, the movie has to sink to this gross-out level to achieve a few fleeting funny moments.

The film is rather stereotypical and degrading to both sexes. Men are depicted as sex-crazed freaks who go mad if they can?t get any. Matt gets physically shaky after a few dry weeks, and can?t even speak to a woman without going into convulsions. Ryan tirelessly speaks of his next conquest and nothing else.

The women in the movie range from Samantha (Maggie Gyllenhaal), the quintessential man-hater, to Matt?s co-workers, who wear little-to-nothing and are willing to do whatever it takes to make Matt break his vow, including prostituting themselves for a piece of the prize money. Then there is Erica, who has had such a bad track record with men that when she finally finds a normal guy she is crazy for, all she can worry about is why they haven?t consummated the relationship.

The acting is average at best. Hartnett has his moments, but most of the time it?s like watching a block of wood. He is better-suited for drama. Costanzo is a bit better as the horny roommate. Sossaman is visually stunning, but nothing special as an actress. “40 Days and 40 Nights” is a typical teen date movie without much to say. The central theme of abstinence is as played out as a Creed record. The movie is as predictable as a “Full House” episode and almost as cheesy. If you want to see a truly funny piece of entertainment involving abstinence, watch “Seinfeld ? The Contest.”